Watching them play OKC made this very clear. They have so many pieces, but too many, and not the right ones.

Here is what OKC has:

-The best player in the conference
-A top ten player
-A good off-ball perimeter scorer off the bench
-A good off-ball big man scorer and defensive anchor
-A long perimeter defensive specialist who can hit an open 3
-Two big men who play good defense and know their place

And that's it. Nobody else on that team is significant at that point, and everyone knows it, and that's okay, because it's about having the right players, not the most good ones. I don't know if I can think of a team that's better put together than the Thunder since I've been an NBA fan.

The Clippers are so stacked, but who fears them? It's because they don't have the right pieces. Take their backcourt. A Paul/Billups/Butler backcourt makes no sense. These are 3 players who all have no length and score the exact same way, and none of them can do anything meaningful off-ball. Might as well lump Hill in with those 3. Hill, Billups, and Paul are all players every team would love to have but they're redundant.

Now take Odom. I've always been a big Odom fan, but he does the same thing for you that Blake Griffin does. Great touch inside, great handles and good passing for a big man. So for this team no matter how good Odom gets all he can really be is a rebounding specialist, and you want your rebounding specialist to be someone who doesn't have mental problems, but instead who can intimidate and knock people around.

Jamal Crawford. Talented player. But he's the only player on the roster who can create his own shot other than Paul. After a dreamy start to the season, he's back down to 42%, where he always has been and always will be. He's inefficient and undependable. He is neither a 4-quarter go-to offensive option, nor the guy you go to for the last shot (Paul is). So what is he? He is a spark off the bench from the perimeter. Sweet - that's good to have. But so is Eric Bledsoe. Crawford is clutch - but so you're telling me you're not putting Finals MVP Billups out there in the last 2 minutes?

I think this team's one trade away from being *serious* contenders, who are actually right at the top of the world with OKC and the Heat. As it stands now it's simply a big glob of likeable and high-character talent.

However, I don't know what that trade is. But the problem remains that when a game is tight and close, you have your 5 guys versus the other team's 5 guys, and LAC's starting lineup minus Paul is indistinguishable from their bench - which says a lot about their bench and little about their starting lineup. Is there anyone out there who could serve as an upgrade? LAC has a bunch of players that plenty of teams would want.

I agree in general that they may need a tweak but it has nothing to do with today. The Clippers are coming off a back to back game where the Warriors also drilled a ton of 3's and ran the Clippers up and down AND the Clippers had their backcourt out.

Nothing about today means anything long term. Scott Brooks just praised them as having a great mix of players for example. The only thing I'd want to see is DeAndre Jordan traded. Bledsoe in the offseason for a SG or SF but for now just move DJ.

I agree in general that they may need a tweak but it has nothing to do with today. The Clippers are coming off a back to back game where the Warriors also drilled a ton of 3's and ran the Clippers up and down AND the Clippers had their backcourt out.

Nothing about today means anything long term. Scott Brooks just praised them as having a great mix of players for example. The only thing I'd want to see is DeAndre Jordan traded. Bledsoe in the offseason for a SG or SF but for now just move DJ.

Damn you flip flop so much bro. Not too long ago you were swinging off of Deandre Jordan's nut sac talking about how much better his post game is.

Damn you flip flop so much bro. Not too long ago you were swinging off of Deandre Jordan's nut sac talking about how much better his post game is.

That was in the beginning of the season when he was playing great. I remember a time when Perkins made a huge impact for you guys too when he first joined and now you want to trade him? No difference. Shit changes after a couple months. DeAndre Jordan is somebody I want off the team.

Well... Utah wants to move Jefferson bad. Bledsoe is worth more than Burks by quite a bit at this point. Not that far fetched, although I agree for Hayward Utah has said he's untradable for them.

You honestly think DJ is worth anything close to Al Jeff? Dude is one of the best centers in the league maybe the best offensively and DJ is foul prone, not constant on offense, gets out of position too much because he tries to block every pump fake and cant make free throws.

I know what you mean - and they clearly do have chemistry - but I think this is a fallacy. This is a team that's on pace for an awesome regular season but that has a 0% chance of making the Finals. Not wanting to take a chance on being a *real* contender and possibly having a rockier regular season than you'd like would be the ****up move IMO. Clips won't have all these pieces forever - for example, isn't Bledsoe on his last year? If the Clips win 60 games and then lose in the second round, who says Chris Paul even stays? The Clips are on that level where not to win a title is to fail. And they will if they don't do something.

And as for team chemistry, that don't mean much if every time it's the last 5 minutes of a game, and everyone else's superstars are showing what they're made of, and you've got, besides Chris Paul, a PF who can't play the pick and roll and still ad-libs his post moves, all your other big men are offensive liabilities, and all your best perimeter players are defensive liabilities who aren't naturally off-ball players.

They're all good at catch and shooting; none are great. They're all good at man defense; none are great. They're all good at creating their own shot; none are great. This is fine unless it's the last 5 minutes of a playoff game. But then the game becomes very simplified and it's your first three options versus the other guy's first 3 options. This is what makes the Heat and Thunder so good; everyone on the roster knows their part in the play.

You honestly think DJ is worth anything close to Al Jeff? Dude is one of the best centers in the league maybe the best offensively and DJ is foul prone, not constant on offense, gets out of position too much because he tries to block every pump fake and cant make free throws.

They don't want to move him that bad lol.

Hmm... maybe so. I just figured it would be worth a shot. Even if the Clippers have to throw in picks or other players. We just need a SF and C upgrade bad. I'm beginning to think DJ is an even worse fit for us than Butler, Green, Crawford at this point.